Most Listened to Albums of 2009

Sonic Youth's "The Eternal," the album I listened to the most this past year. I'm also very excited to be travelling down to San Francisco to see them perform on January 10th. This will be the first time I've seen them twice during a single album's touring cycle!

After compiling my list of “most listened to” albums of 2009, I made a couple of interesting observations. With a few exceptions, most of my favorite releases this year came from bands I’ve known and loved for years. I’ve listened to Built to Spill, Cursive, Wilco and Tortoise since college, Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth since High School.

WHY? released a heart-breakingly beautiful, “musically transitional” album. Sonic Youth’s “The Eternal” marked their return to an indie label (Matador), as well as one of their most accessible recordings in years. Girls were a fun new discovery this year (and no I’m not talking about losing my virginity, but that was awesome too!). The songs on the Girls debut entitled “Album” all sound so familiar without being too derivative. The Flaming Lips’ release was a psychedelic, spacey, sprawling mind fuck, in the best possible sense. They completely shunned the accessibility of their last few records and released a double album of weirdness. Noticeably absent from this year’s list was any recordings from Sub Pop, a label that normally releases at least a couple of albums in my year end list.

Although I listened to and enjoyed them, I didn’t include Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavillion,” WAVVES’s self titled album or Grizzly Bear’s “Veckatimest.” It’s very likely you’ll see all three of these albums on most “Year in Music” lists. The albums listed below are literally what I listened to the most over this last year. None of these records were included to seem “cool” or “hip.”

A couple of albums I really enjoyed, but won’t admit to most people are Bat for Lashes “Two Suns,” Phoenix’s “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” and Dirty Projectors “Bitte Orca.”

Overall, 2009 had some solid releases from some reliable bands, but lacked anything that I’m likely to consider “classic” down the road. There was no “Alopeica,” “The Ugly Organ” or “Microcastle.”

Most Listened to Albums of 2009
(not in any particular order)

WHY? – Eskimo Snow
Sonic Youth – The Eternal
Wilco - Wilco (the Album)
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Built to Spill – There is No Enemy
Cursive - Mama, I'm Swollen
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
Girls – Album